U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,767 (to Wyant) discloses a portfolio having a front cover, a rear cover hingedly connected to the front cover and an inner pocket for securing items such as paper sheets within the folder. The Wyant portfolio is adapted to display photographs by being provided with a transparent film overlaying cutout sections in the front cover. There is no suggestion in the Wyant patent about how to provide a lockable reclosure means to hold the portfolio closed to protect the contents, nor does the Wyant portfolio provide any means for viewing a series of photographs arranged in manner similar to the pages of a book. U.S. Pat. No. 1,774,215 (to Weinthrop) discloses a somewhat similar display folder, but again, there is no disclosure of a closure for holding the folder closed, and the Weinthrop folder does not include a way to mount photographs or the like in a page-like arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,847 (to Angus) discloses a fairly typical film processing envelope including generally rectangular back and front panels, a closure flap secured to the back panel and a relatively shallow open-top pouch. The contents, developed film or negatives, must be removed from the envelope in order to be viewed. While the Angus reference discloses that a closure flap may be provided so that the envelope can be reclosed, the flap includes a repositionable adhesive which, in time, may tend to loose its adhesive qualities, creating the danger that the contents may fall out of the envelope. The Angus-type envelopes generally may not be durable enough for long-term storage and reuse.
Other arrangements for containing and viewing photographs are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,038,503 (to Goldberg) and 4,275,517 (to Blanchard). The Goldberg assembly is an "accordion" arrangement wherein a number of photographic prints are arranged in edge to edge relationship for receipt in a carton container or box. The Blanchard invention comprises a photographic mount including a frame and a cover hinged to the frame, but it is only capable of mounting a single photograph for viewing and there is no recloseable locking feature disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,396 (to Cowen) discloses a ticket envelope having a front panel, a rear panel and a ticket-receiving pocket, but there is no disclosure of a binding means nor a releaseably lockable closure.
Of course, tab and tab-receiving slot closures are known and are well represented by U.S. Pat. No. 924,094 (to Myers) and the closure for a flexible receptacle as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,281,452 (to Ottinger). Such tab and slot closures are useful, but there is no suggestion in either of these two references about adapting such closures to a portfolio-like folder for viewing or displaying a series of photographs. U.S. Pat. No. 1,114,596 (to Dustan) discloses a loose-leaf holder including a tab arrangement to hold together the blank sections forming the holder; but there is no suggestion about how to provide a book-like spine or binding arrangement.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,933,294 and 4,109,850 (both to Meenan et al.) disclose a one-piece file folder with a rigid spine. While the '850 patent discloses a pocket for containing papers, including a locking tab for slidably expanding or contracting the pocket according to the amount of papers added to the pocket or taken therefrom, there is no suggestion about how to mount plurality of photographs in a page-like manner for viewing, nor is there a suggestion about providing a reusable, releaseably lockable closure for holding the file folders closed.
While all the above-noted patents represent improvements in portfolios and folders, certain problems associated with containing and viewing photographs or prints are not addressed.
One such problem is that a folder for containing a valuable photographic prints should be able to be secured in a closed position, yet be openable easily and conveniently. Once opened, the folder should allow a viewer to view a series of photographs conveniently, ideally in a page or leaf-like manner. It would also be preferable that the prints could be removed from the folder and replaced therein without damage, and that negatives from which the prints are developed could be safely contained in the same folder.
Accordingly, a recloseable folder for containing and viewing photographs, prints or the like, which is easy to open and lockably reclose and which adequately protects the contents yet allows the removal and replacement of the contents, would be a decided improvement over known folders or portfolios.